The budget, also approved on the Legislature's last day, includes $105 million in state dollars to help fund the project, and the 16-county water-management district is required to put up a like amount for at least 10 years.

``This is historic. We're sending this to the governor. Everglades. $105 million,'' said Rep. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Everglades Oversight and a key architect of the plan, after the House vote.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers turned the Everglades into a massive flood-control project 50 years ago by building 1,000 miles of canals and levees that now divert more than 1.7 billion gallons of water a day into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

The plan is to remove 240 miles of canals and levees and raise 20 miles of the Tamiami Trail to help restore the natural southerly flow of water and keep more of that water in South Florida to help the ecosystem and boost regional water supplies.

Gov. Jeb Bush and state environmental officials are planning a trip to the nation's capital next week to deliver a written copy of the state's agreement to pay half of the project.

``The Everglades are seen as an international treasure, and we need to send a message that Florida is serious about saving the Everglades,'' said Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, who helped spearhead the Senate's work on the plan.

The plan is for Congress to pay out $200 million a year for the project while the other $200 million annually comes from state and local sources.

``When we get to Washington next week, there will be a lot of money on the table,'' said Allison DeFoor, who was appointed by Bush to help usher the agreement through the Legislature.

The legislation (HB 221) requires the water-management district to pay half of the state's commitment to the project. But because 54 percent of the state's population lives in the district's 16 counties, local lawmakers said, South Florida taxpayers would end up footing about 75 percent of the state's bill.

``It's a national treasure, and it's unfair to put the onus on the taxpayers of the South Florida Water Management District,'' said Sen. Howard Forman, D-Pembroke Pines.

``This is something I see as a state responsibility,'' said Sen. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton.

But others argued that South Florida would also be the area to benefit most, economically and environmentally, from the project.

``One hundred percent of the water is going to benefit South Florida,'' Saunders said.

Bush told the water-management district to come up with its share of the cost without raising taxes. The district board recently identified $48 million it can directly contribute by cutting jobs and research programs. Local South Florida governments have earmarked $12 million in projects that can be counted toward the district's share. Another $30 million earmarked by the state for the cleanup of Lake Okeechobee is also expected to count toward the district's contribution.